Somebody please explain the difference between this show and "Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes." (Other than accents. )

I've only seen the American remake of "Life on Mars" so even the accents won't be different for me. But "Life on Mars" is about a cop waking up somewhere back in time after a car accident, and "Awake" is about a cop waking up in parallel universes after a car accident. See, totally different!

Oh, and speaking of accents, the American "LIM" had an Irish man playing the American cop, and "Awake" has a British man playing the American cop, so there you go.

Nope, no purgatory. Not going to do it! Not going to go there. Our [future] fans expect more than a blatant deus ex machina like that to "explain" it all away at the end. We're going to be better than that! No purgatory, unh uh, no way!!

Sincerely,
JJ Abrams, Damon Lindelof & Carlton Cuse

Arch, Arch, Arch... You really need to get over your lingering bitterness so you can fully enjoy life again . But since you reopened the can of worms I have to set the record straight once more. The purgatory ending of LOST was only the explanation to the "sideways" section of the last season. The rest of the story was wrapped up earlier in the corporeal world. Now, I understand some viewers may not have been fully satisfied with the extent of answers given regarding everything that went on in the main story, but the sideways/purgatory section clearly wasn't ever designed to do that. And certainly some people were mad/disappointed because their own guesses as to what the sideways flashes were didn't turn out to be correct. But in the end , the whole sideways apparatus was essentially a stand alone postscript they added to give another twist and sendoff to the saga. It definitely wasn't a blatant deus ex machina simply thrown in to explain away the whole main story.

Arch, Arch, Arch... You really need to get over your lingering bitterness so you can fully enjoy life again . But since you reopened the can of worms I have to set the record straight once more. The purgatory ending of LOST was only the explanation to the "sideways" section of the last season. The rest of the story was wrapped up earlier in the corporeal world.

Hey, I opened that can six months ago! All them worms done long crawled out. And I hereby declare my bitterness will last as long as Hurley&Ben ran the Island.

You know, they could do a series of specials - call 'em "movies of the week" - on that theme and probably ton it in the ratings. I'd watch. So say we all!

Quote:

Originally Posted by R11

But in the end, the whole sideways apparatus was essentially a stand alone postscript they added to give another twist and sendoff to the saga. It definitely wasn't a blatant deus ex machina simply thrown in to explain away the whole main story.

That's no different. Like I said, some people weren't happy with the answers given because they didn't align with their own preferred theories. Just because you didn't care for the more mystical/fantasy based outcome, it doesn't make it any less valid than a more scientific based explanation. That was simply your preference. I can see why you might have been unhappy though, seeing as how you spent hundreds of hours conjuring up your wide ranging, pseudo-scientific theories. But just think of all the fun you had doing it though . Not to mention the countless pages of mind-bending reading enjoyment you provided to a whole legion of other AVS science-based-LOST-theory-fanatics!

I can see why you might have been unhappy though, seeing as how you spent hundreds of hours conjuring up your wide ranging, pseudo-scientific theories. But just think of all the fun you had doing it though . Not to mention the countless pages of mind-bending reading enjoyment you provided to a whole legion of other AVS science-based-LOST-theory-fanatics!

Yeah, my whole alternate universe theory which I painstakingly constructed based on sure-fire evidence in the show crashed on the shoals of LOST Island, fer sure. Unless you count the "postscript" as an alternate universe of course. I could stand it then.

And, proving history does repeat itself, the 4-part multiverse theory I've been championing on 'Fringe' is getting ready to crash&burn as well, I fear (altered, not alternate).

I like what I saw in the pilot. The concept of the man living what seems like two lives since the accident is interesting. I'm curious as to what is causing this to happen rather if he's dreaming one of them up or if he in fact is the one who died and is in some kind of purgatory until he can redeem himself. I do hope the writers already got an ending planned out in case suddenly NBC decides to pull the plug on this after this season. Something tells me this isn't going to be a huge ratings hit for NBC but we'll see.

On that note I did find that Jason Isaacs reminds me a bit of an younger Lance Henriksen on this show.

I watched the pilot online and I must say not bad. I think this will be one of those shows that you have to be paying attention in order to figure out what is going on. And if I had to take a guess as to the what the characters predicament is it is either a coma, near death experience, or like someone above said some form of purgatory. I just hope the show is on the air long enough to give me some answers.

You can never judge a show by its pilot episode or the half season following it.

After multiple attempts to find something that would stick on Thursdays after its hit-comedy lead-ins, NBC has finally found a winner in "Awake," a new psychological cop show premiering this week in the spot previously occupied by the underrated and badly mishandled "Prime Suspect" and the tepid "The Firm."

"Awake," premiering this week, grabs you, unnerves you, breaks your heart and even makes you work a little. All is not revealed in the first episode, unlike so many lesser shows. Instead, evoking any number of great British TV thrillers, the story and characters take their time, not only giving you a better chance to understand a complicated concept but, more important, making you want to come back week after week.

Created by Kyle Killen ("Lone Star"), "Awake" is about a Los Angeles cop named Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs - he's also one of the producers), who survives a car accident that may or may not have killed his wife, Hannah (Laura Allen), and/or their teenage son, Rex (Dylan Minnette).

Yep, you read that correctly. His wife and son may be dead, but they also seem to be alive in two separate realities or dreams - Michael can't quite figure out which, and we can't either. When he wakes up in the morning, he may be in one version of his life in which Hannah is frantically redecorating their house as if she wants to completely change the setting of their lives because Rex is gone. Or Michael may find himself in the alternate version in which he and Rex are trying to feel out their strained relationship against the backdrop of Hannah's death.

Meanwhile, Michael is also solving crimes. He has the same job as an L.A. cop in both realities, but his partner in one world is a rookie named Efrem Vega (Wilmer Valderrama), while his sidekick in the other is veteran cop Bird Freeman (Steve Harris).

Eventually, Michael learns to tell the difference between his two lives by the color of a rubber band he wears on his wrist. If Hannah is still around, the rubber band is red. If Rex is still around, it's green. He also begins to feel a kind of gratitude for this particular schizophrenia because it's a way of keeping his family alive. And the more he learns to toggle between the two worlds, the more he uses what he knows and sees in one version of his life to solve crimes in the other.

As complicated as that may seem, the story begins to make sense as Michael visits separate therapists in his two worlds. Dr. John Lee (BD Wong) uses a get-tough-snap-out-of-it approach to therapy in Michael's "red" world, while Dr. Judith Evans (Cherry Jones) adopts a more comforting style.

The performances are perfect at almost every level. Isaacs completely convinces us that he can come to accept his paranormal existences, plural, while still being both the smartest and sanest guy in the room. Allen is loving and vulnerable as his wife, and Minnette is one of those rarities in film and TV, a believable kid.

The show works on many levels, of course, which means there are varying ways for viewers to find their way into its labyrinthine core.

In addition, like other dramas such as "Homeland" and "Person of Interest," its edginess is rooted in the rumbling sense of uncertainty that pervaded our world in the first decade of the new century. The big difference between "Awake" and those other shows, however, is emotional content: It is an important factor in making "Awake" a winner.

Finally, NBC gives you a reason to stay up past 10 p.m. on Thursdays. Good luck trying to get to sleep after the show's over, though.

Yeah, my whole alternate universe theory which I painstakingly constructed based on sure-fire evidence in the show crashed on the shoals of LOST Island, fer sure. Unless you count the "postscript" as an alternate universe of course. I could stand it then.

And, proving history does repeat itself, the 4-part multiverse theory I've been championing on 'Fringe' is getting ready to crash&burn as well, I fear (altered, not alternate).

I gotta' come up with some new theories.

Back when Fringe first started I watched the first few ep's which didn't exactly grab me, and I finally bailed when the cow showed up in their office... It does sound like it's gotten much better so maybe I'll watch it on disc one of these summers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by URFloorMatt

The ship might correct itself. As I recall they shut down production early on to fix it. Having said that, this seems like it would make a much better film premise than series premise.

Watched the pilot On Demand via comcast last night. Seems interesting and pretty well done so far. I also wonder what they might do to keep the interest up though.

Back when Fringe first started I watched the first few ep's which didn't exactly grab me, and I finally bailed when the cow showed up in their office... It does sound like it's gotten much better so maybe I'll watch it on disc one of these summers.

The cow was kind of odd, and we've rarely seen it since (although one recent episode had Walter lovingly brushing it). The purpose was to show how quirky and "off" Walter was - an interesting production decision. But that's all it was. No reason to bail on what has become one of TV's better genre shows. All of us fans are fervently hoping for renewal; 'Fringe' is on the bubble, as always.

You bailed way too early, because Fringe is one of the best sci-fi shows done in years, including BSG. Once they got away from monster of the week it really hit its stride.

Quote:

Originally Posted by archiguy

The cow was kind of odd, and we've rarely seen it since (although one recent episode had Walter lovingly brushing it). The purpose was to show how quirky and "off" Walter was - an interesting production decision. But that's all it was. No reason to bail on what has become one of TV's better genre shows. All of us fans are fervently hoping for renewal; 'Fringe' is on the bubble, as always.

I guess it just goes to show you never can tell for sure initially, and what a hard time the producers/networks really do have in trying to establish new shows given all the myriad options available to the viewer (with only so much time to watch) these days. It's like Person of Interest for me this year. I watched the first 2-3 episodes and they seemed pretty rote, so I just kept pulling other stuff off the DVR to watch when I would sit down. But I kept recording the ep's for the heck of it and now that I've started to catch up it's really gotten much more interesting.

Well, after watching the premiere, which was entertaining, I have to wonder what kind of show this aims to be? How can they sustain this premise without becoming just another tired, formulaic cop procedural? He uses information gleaned in both "lives" to solve crimes in each -- big deal. As much as I like Jason Isaacs, Cherry Jones, and BD Wong, I have no time or patience for rote procedurals. If there's not a compelling serialized storyline with a payoff down the line that takes center stage, I won't last long. I've seen more than one critical review which says the next few episodes are much less compelling. We'll see.

I can see why Kyle Killen may be a little gun-shy about producing another heavily serialized show after the 'Lone Star' disaster (for the record, I really liked the two episodes that were broadcast and thought it had a lot of potential). But it looks as if he deliberately tried to create a standard cop procedural with just enough weirdness to attract the additional demographic of loyal sci-fi/fantasy types. I'm worried about 'Touch' for much the same reason, but after seeing the pilot of each, it looks like 'Touch' has more potential.

Nielsen Overnights (18-49)'Awake' perks up deadly timeslot for NBCAverages a 1.9 in 18-49s, not a great number but an improvement
By Toni Fitzgerald, Media Life Magazine - Mar. 2, 2012

It wasn't exactly a bang-up premiere, but compared to what NBC's been averaging in the Thursday 10 p.m. timeslot the new drama "Awake" did alright.

The show averaged a 1.9 adults 18-49 rating in its 10 p.m. debut, according to Nielsen overnights, NBC's best non-sports rating in the hour since May 19.

It also improved the network's dismal 1.2 average in the slot this season by 58 percent, and it finished No. 1 in the hour in the demo, ahead of repeats on the other Big Three networks.

Now that's not to say that "Awake" is a hit. A 1.9 is not a strong rating, and it will face more difficult competition in the coming weeks, as CBS and ABC return to originals.

But it's certainly better than "Prime Suspect" or "The Firm," two other new dramas that aired in the slot, had been faring, and with little lead-in support. The 9:30 p.m. "Up All Night" averaged just a 1.6 on NBC.

Meanwhile, elsewhere last night, Fox's "American Idol" boosted the network to yet another Thursday win with its highest-rated episode in several weeks, a two-hour special in which this season's finalists were revealed.

"Idol" averaged a 5.3 rating from 8 to 10 p.m., 20 percent better than last week's season-low 4.5 for a one-hour episode.

Fox led the night among 18-49s with that 5.3 average overnight rating and a 15 share as the networks segued into post-sweeps reruns. CBS was second at 2.1/6, NBC third at 1.9/5, Univision fourth at 1.4/4, ABC fifth at 1.1/3, Telemundo sixth at 0.6/2 and CW seventh at 0.4/1.

As a reminder, all ratings are based on live-plus-same-day DVR playback, which includes shows replayed before 3 a.m. the night before. Seven-day DVR data won’t be available for several weeks. Forty-three percent of Nielsen households have DVRs.

At 8 p.m. Fox was first with a 5.0 for "Idol," followed by CBS with a 2.9 for a repeat of "The Big Bang Theory (3.2) and a new "Rob" (2.6). NBC was third with a 1.6 for "30 Rock" (1.4) and "Parks and Recreation" (1.7), Univision fourth with a 1.5 for "Una Familia con Suerte," ABC fifth with a 1.3 for a repeat of "Wipeout," Telemundo sixth with a 0.6 for "Una Maid en Manhattan" and CW seventh with a 0.4 for a repeat of "The Vampire Diaries."

Fox was first again at 9 p.m. with a 5.6 for more "Idol," while NBC moved to second with a 2.1 for "The Office" (2.5) and "Night" (1.6). CBS was third with a 1.8 for a repeat of "Person of Interest." Univision and ABC tied for fourth at 1.1, Univision for "El Talisman" and ABC for a repeat of "Grey's Anatomy." Telemundo was sixth with a 0.7 for "Flor Salvaje" and CW seventh with a 0.3 for a repeat of "Supernatural."

At 10 p.m. NBC led with a 1.9 for "Awake," with CBS second with a 1.7 for a repeat of "The Mentalist." Univision was third with a 1.5 for "La Que No Podia Amar," ABC fourth with a 1.0 for a repeat of "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and Telemundo fifth with a 0.5 for "Relaciones Peligrosas."

Fox also finished first for the night among households with a 10.7 average overnight rating and a 17 share. CBS was second at 6.1/10, NBC third at 3.1/5, ABC fourth at 2.4/4, Univision fifth at 1.7/3 and CW and Telemundo tied for sixth at 0.7/1.

This answer from Killen back at Comic-Con wouldn't seem to bode well for those looking for shorter term answers and moving along on the central mystery:

Quote:

THR: It also raises the question: What is real?

Killen: I think there's a set of questions that you're sort of hinting at and I think those are very interesting. My hope is that unlike something like Lost, which I loved, where you wanted to move down that treadmill toward, "Finally, tell me what's going on." I think what happens here, if we do our job right, is that you become so invested in the two sides that you like [Michael], you start saying, "Now I don't want to know." At some point, knowing means I have to give up half of this story, half of these worlds. Trying to build that dichotomy is both the challenge but an interesting way to approach the show. Instead of being about making you want to pull apart the mystery, we're going to make you afraid of the mystery, just like he is.

For one, I did not care for the cinematography. There were too many head shots. Are we supposed to count the pores on the actors skin for some kind of contest? Does NBC maintain some kind of book that showrunners are supposed to follow regarding cinematography? Why are they still catering to a dwindling population with old 4:3 sets?

It was hard to follow the crime story part given the two realities scheme. I'll see if it coalesces any after this pilot but I have my doubts. Waste of Isaac's talent.

I liked it! Yes, it sucks that they had to make him a cop thus making it a variation (or extension) of "Life on Mars" but there aren't a lot of new ideas left on television. It was confusing at times but no more than it was supposed to be.